Cricket's Collapse & Ice Hockey's Rise in Canada Post-Confederation

Canada confederated in 1867 after four provinces joined together. There were major social, economic, and cultural differences that were observed before and after the confederation. There was a rapid change seen in Canadian society during the second half of the 19th century. The changes seen in the society are highlighted through the type of sports played in these different times. The time period at which any sport is played in history reveals a lot about the social and political conditions of that society. This paper investigates the underlying factors that led towards the growth of cricket and hockey in Canada, before and after the confederation. This paper also explains the reasons behind the decline of cricket in Canada around the 20th century. The collapse of cricket in Canada can be related to its British background, as well as the rise of sports like hockey which overtook Canada during the post-confederation period.

In 1867, four North American British colonies joined together to form the Dominion of Canada. The Dominion consisted of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. From that time to 1999, there have been six provinces and several territories which have joined the confederation. Before the union of British North American colonies, the Englishmen displayed their dominance in the present day ‘Canada’. One of the ways British exhibited their control over the Canadian land was by playing sports that had originated from Britain. One such sport that became popular in Canada during pre-confederation period was cricket. Cricket emerged as an English sport in Canada in the early 1830’s. According to Alan Metcalfe, the culture of cricket in Canada spread all throughout the nation by 1867. The game evolved, and the sport started to grow in Victoria, Montreal, the Eastern Township, Quebec, and villages in Ontario (Metcalfe, 2000). In Canada, the sport was played by garrisons, soldiers, and members of upper English class; thus, excluding all other cultures (Metcalfe, 2000). However, cricket suddenly started to decline in the early 20th century. The influence of American sports on Canadian people started taking place. For instance, around 1860’s, cricket was replaced by baseball in Hamilton, Ontario (Metcalfe 2000). Baseball was played among the working class. It resembled cricket when it came to the style of the game. Moreover, the working class played baseball, whereas the upper English class was bound to cricket. During the pre-confederation, another sport that gained popularity was lacrosse. It was a Native American sport which became widely popular in Canada. In fact, it became the official national sport of Canada due to the contributions from William George Beers. On top of that, he believed himself to be a nationalist. Delsahut mentions Beer’s statement regarding lacrosse stating that, “If the Republic of Greece was indebted to the Olympic Games; if England had cause to bless the game of cricket, so may Canada be proud of Lacrosse” (Delsahut, 2015). Therefore, due to diffusion of American sports in Canada, cricket started to see its decline after the confederation. Moreover, the interest of the civilians was very limited in cricket. They used to play against the British military teams. The game started to grow when civilians won against the military teams. In contrast, cricket started to decline, and complaints of the civilians were heard when they lost the game (Moss, 1978). Apart from that, the game was never suited for Canada’s harsh winter climate as it was an outdoor summer sport. One of the instances where the ground was unsuitable for playing cricket was when Colonel Wallace arrived in Halifax in 1871. After seeing the cricket ground, he said it “presented the usual ploughed field appearance,” (Reid & Reid, 2015, p. 9). Moreover, the participation of women seen playing cricket in Canada and United States was extremely low. One of the reports in Savannah Republican, which was an American newspaper, described cricket as ‘this manly game’ (Lockley, 2003). Therefore, following the years of confederation, cricket started to decline in Canada as other sports like hockey and baseball became widely popular.

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After the confederation in 1867, the Dominion of Canada was at a state of political and economic unrest. There were other provinces which joined the confederation later. At that time, Canada was searching for a national identity. During the post confederation period, ice hockey became very popular in Canada, adding meaning to the Canadian national identity. The first indoor ice hockey game was played at Victoria Rink in Montreal, on March 3rd,1875 (Metcalfe, 2000). Apart from that, the first ice hockey club was formed in Montreal, known as the Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal. Ice hockey was adopted by the people very quickly (Metcalfe, 2000). An ice hockey tournament was first held at the 1883 Montreal Winter Carnival. Soon, there was the formation of Amateur Hockey association of Canada, which was an amateur ice hockey league found on 8th December,1886 (Metcalfe, 2000). The game spread to churches, schools, and other parts of Canada. Ice hockey was growing at an alarming pace at the beginning of 19th century Canada. In 1917, there was introduction of the National Hockey League (NHL), which was a men’s professional ice hockey league established in Montreal, Quebec, in 1917. Since then, NHL became one of the most popular ice hockey tournaments in the world. Over the years, hockey became widely popular in Canada. There were several reasons due to which hockey attracted so many supporters. Firstly, the violent and the aggressive nature of the sport portrayed masculinity. During the first World War, a lot of hockey players were recruited for the Canadian Expeditionary Forces (CEF). Players from various hockey leagues across Canada were chosen for preparation of the war. Hockey was a symbol of masculinity and the players were recruited in the military to help in World War 1 (Wilson, 2005). In the aftermath of the first World War, hockey kept growing as new leagues were introduced, and people became more enthusiastic about the sport. A place which represented various cultures; hockey was regarded to be the social glue of the country. During the 1950’s, the growing tension between the French and Canadian also caused various problems. Montreal had a great number of French speaking population in an English dominated state. Hockey represented a symbol of hope to the Francophiles. One of the papers written on one of French-Canadian ice hockey legend, Maurice Richard, tends to prove the tension between the English and French at that time. Richard had scored 544 regular season goals and 82 playoff goals during his career (Ramos & Gosine, 2002). On March 17th ,1955, Maurice Richard was suspended by the president of the National Hockey League (NHL), Clarence Cambell, after he injured the defenseman and the referee. His suspension led to riots which aggravated the problems between the English and the French. This highlights the importance of the game in people’s life at that time. There was an analysis done on media coverage of Richard’s death by Ramos and Gosine. They concluded that, “the Rocket’s death reflects a divide in terms of cultural myth-making between Quebec and the rest of the Canada, which in turn fuels the existence of separate identities or spheres of being” (Ramos & Gosine, 2002, p. 18). Richard, also known as ‘Rocket’ was considered as a political hero in Quebec (Ramos & Gosine, 2002). Hockey became a symbol of strength for the Francophiles. The Richard incident shows the political and social instability between the groups. This tension between the groups can be clearly seen in incidents like the Richard Riot. Also, several inter-city hockey competitions started taking place after the confederation. Holman mentions that the town’s ice hockey strength was a symbol of “civic pride and celebration” (Holman, 2004, p. 10). The players were associated to represent the town and were awarded for their good performance (Holman, 2004). The people started taking pride in the sport. Overall, hockey united the whole country as everyone had something common to cheer about. One of other reasons behind hockey’s growth in the Canadian Society can be associated with the urbanization. This led to more intra-city and inter-city competitions in hockey. Moreover, US started a new league with five communities of US and Ontario, known as the International Hockey league (IHL) in 1904. The formation of IHL led to a new era in ice hockey. Amateur players in Canada started to move to IHL where the players got paid. This led to the professionalization of the sport, which ultimately became a commercial spectator sport (Mason, 1998). Moreover, due to the increasing population, more indoor ice hockey rinks started to be built. Toronto and Hamilton had an artificial rink built by 1919. Starting from 1920, there were more sporting facilities which were created in urban centers (Metcalfe, 1983). Ultimately, hockey saw further advancement in the developments of the sport through creation of more professional leagues as well as more followers of the game. Therefore, hockey became really popular after confederation, and has continued to unify Canadians as members of one country.

To conclude, the rise of hockey and the decline of cricket in Canada can be better understood by recognizing the political climate of Canada before and after confederation. The control reflected by British over Canada can be represented by the history of cricket in Canada. In contrast, hockey united Canadians by adding meaning to the Canadian national identity. This shows the importance of sports in a greater context, and how it illustrates the social and economic conditions of a place. On the other hand, the paper successfully highlights the rise of ice hockey in Canada in the post confederation period. It shows the reasons behind hockey’s popularity in Canada. Thus, both cricket and hockey has shown to be an important part of the Canadian sport history.

References

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